Death Wish | 1974

A huge box-office success, and an equally huge controversy over vigilantism.

The casting of grizzly tough guy Charles Bronson undermines the potentially interesting concept of drippy-liberal conscientious objector transformed into an avenging anti-hero only after his wife and daughter have been viciously attacked.

Set, and largely filmed, in New York. The apartment of architect Paul Kersey (Bronson) is 33 Riverside at 75th Street on the East Side, and it’s in nearby Riverside Park, overlooking the Hudson River, that Kersey blows away his first mugger.

The architectural office, in which Kersey works, is 2 Park Avenue at 32nd Street in the Murray Hill district.

Kersey’s crusade was originally to have been inspired by a viewing of High Noon, but when it proved impossible to use clips from the Fred Zinnemann classic, Kersey’s inspiration became a business trip to Tucson, Arizona, where he watches the Old West shoot-out at the Old Tucson Studios, 201 South Kinney Road, a movie-lot turned tourist attraction near Tucson. There’s a clip from the film on Old Tucson’s website.